Using XML Sitemaps to Boost SEO
It doesn’t matter what kind of business you run, what products you sell, or which services you offer, if you want people to find you online, you’re going to need to overhaul your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO is one of the most important aspects of marketing and advertising. It basically ensures that potential customers find your website when they search online for relevant keywords and phrases. As SEO is constantly evolving, it’s important to stay ahead of the game. This is where XML sitemaps can be so useful.
XML sitemaps can be hugely beneficial when submitted to things such as Google Search Console, yet the main issue people have is optimizing them to get the best results. The internet is awash with all manner of misinformation surrounding XML sitemaps for boosting SEO, so knowing what to do is easier said than done. If you’re looking to boost your search engine optimization, the following should prove very useful. Here’s a look at how to use XML sitemaps to boost SEO.
What are XML Sitemaps?
Sitemaps are protocols in XML format that are designed to allow webmaster to inform search engines about a website’s URLs which are accessible for web crawling. Basically, an XML sitemap is a file which will list each of your website’s URLs.
An XML sitemap serves as a guide for the crawlers of search engines and similar indexing platforms, which content is available and how it can be accessed. If for example, a website has 7 pages, the XML sitemap will help show the search engines to find all 7 pages.
XML sitemaps are especially beneficial for websites which meet the following criteria:
– Sites with weak internal linking
– Sites with numerous different pages
– Sites which regularly change the content of existing web pages
– Sites which regularly add new pages
– Sites which suffer from a lack of a durable external link profile
How to Optimize XML Sitemaps to Boost SEO
If used correctly, XML sitemaps can significantly improve a company’s visibility online by enhancing its SEO. Doing so, however, is not as easy as some would have you believe. It’s all about structuring the sitemaps efficiently and using the correct URLs. A few ways to optimize your XML sitemap include:
Only Utilize Relevant SEO Pages in Your Sitemaps
Basically, an XML sitemap is simply a list of any and all pages that you would like visitors to your site to crawl through. By default, this will help boost visibility on indexing sites and platforms like Google. Because of this, there may be sites on your website that you do not wish to be crawled through. If this is the case, make sure you omit these pages from your sitemap.
Use Plugins and Tools to Automatically Generate Your Sitemap
To help make life easy, if you are looking to optimize your XML sitemap, make sure you use plugins and tools which will automatically do this for you. Google XML Sitemaps is a great example of this. WordPress websites which use Yoast SEO are also able to directly enable XML Sitemaps directly via the Plugin.
Make Sure the XML Sitemap is Valid
Another effective way of optimizing your sitemaps is to double check whether they are valid. While there are XML sitemap validators that will automatically tell you if the map is valid, sometimes this isn’t enough. Sometimes you’ll find that search engines are unable to locate your sitemap. This could be due to many reasons, robots directives for example. Some third-party validators might not be able to figure out why that is.
To get around this issue, to ensure your sitemap is valid you can submit it straight to Google Search Console.
Other Tips Include:
– Check that the Sitemap code is free of errors
– Only include SEO-relevant pages in the Sitemap index
– Utilize image tags in your Sitemaps
– Make sure URLs are only included in one single XML Sitemap
– Use tools such as Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster
– Make use of tools and plugins
Now that you have the basics down, if you are looking to use XML Sitemaps to boost SEO, be sure to follow the guidance listed above.